June 18, 2024 … He’s My Friend …

June 18, 2024 … He’s My Friend  …       

Devotional Song: ... GO TO THIS LINK ...  Please take the time to take in this song with lyrics from Alan Jackson singing What A Friend We Have In Jesus … poignantly singing of how Jesus is always friend to the friendless.

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Highlight Passage: … Psalms 68:6  [NLT] … </b>

<i>   6 God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. …  </i>   

…  The Psalmists sings of God giving comfort to the lonely and oppressed.                                                                                       

Highlight Passage (in context): … Psalms 68:3-6, 19  [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… King David sings of God giving comfort to the lonely and putting them (us) in His family.          

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Reference Passage: … 2Kings 2:2 [NLT] … 

2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.”But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!” So they went down together to Bethel. 

… God’s word tells of the friendship bond between Elijah and Elisha, being the kind of friendship we all need in life.  

Reference Passage: … Proverbs 17:17, 18:24 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …  

… God, thru Solomon, shows that we all need friends who will ALWAYS be there for us.  

Reference Passage: … Matthew 11:28-30 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …

… Jesus invites any and all who love Him to come to Him for rest and restoration.     

Reference Passage: … John 15:12-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK  ... 

… Jesus assures His disciples (and us too) that any/all who love Him and are obedient to follow Him will be His friends.        

Reference Passage: … James 4:4 [NLT] … 

4 You adulterers  Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.   

… James shows fellow Christians that being a friend with the world will make them (us) enemies with God..  

Reference Passage: … 1John 3:1 [NLT] … 

7 See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him.

… The Apostle John shows Christian’s that we are God’s Children as long as we know and seek His love/grace.    

My Devotional Journal: Today’s Our Daily Bread Author, Patricia Raybon -  AT THIS LINK  -  -tells of a friend named Holly Cooke who moved to London and learned that an extensive survey revealed that 55% of Londoners in the survey reported being lonely, … whereas only 10% of survey participants in other cities in Europe did so.  So, Ms Cooke established a social media organization to provide small group and friendship support for over 35,000 London women who joined the organization called  “The London Lonely Girls Club.”    

And that ODB entry illustrates a reality which God’s word addresses in the Scriptures shared above as well as the linked song, … that we all need to respond to God’s promises to be there as our eternal and loving friend, … for anyone who needs the friendship offered and provided by no less than our Lord and Savior, Jesus.  Anybody need to join Him as our “BFF” besides me?     

My THANKFULNESS: ... Oh, Abba Father, thank You, King Jesus, … for being my “BFF.”            

My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, ... King Jesus, ... . I’m praying today that those who read with me here will join me to share in the friendship You provide for all who love and follow You, Lord.       … Amen

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Blogger Note:  Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries.  If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.